A new report reveals that legislative moves to convert struggling public schools in Milwaukee into private charters─whether for-profit or non-profit─may actually damage the academic futures of far too many of the city’s children.
The report, “Do Poor Kids Deserve Lower-Quality Education Than Rich Kids? Evaluating School Privatization Proposals in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,” was written byProfessor Gordon Lafer in conjunction with the national think tank Economic Policy Institute (EPI).
A special briefing on this provocative study will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday, April 24, in the ground floor rotunda of Milwaukee City Hall, 200 East Wells Street. You can join Dr. Lafer and public school supporters from the area to hear about the growing private charter industry and its impact–often negative–on Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) and students.
There was a strong push by Wisconsin legislators in the last session to enact bills aimed at closing low-performing public schools and replacing them with less accountable, privately-run and often-for-profit enterprises. Considering many of the unanswered questions, EPI commissioned Prof. Lafer to actually look at the impact these privatization efforts would have on MPS.
The report is an eye-opening investigation into the rapidly growing private charter industry and the effects profit motivated schools can have on the depth and quality of education children receive.
Prof. Lafer, a political economist at the University of Oregon’s Labor Education and Research Center, will talk about his findings followed by a response from education expert Dr. Alex Molnar. Dr. Molnar is the publications director or the National Education Policy Center (NEPC), director of its Commercialism in Education Research Unit (CERU), and a research professor at the University of Colorado Boulder. He has also done extensive research on the voucher program in Milwaukee. A question and answer segment will follow.
Also responding will be Robert Bauman, Milwaukee alderman from the city’s fourth ward. He was first elected in April of 2004 after a 27-year career as an attorney and businessman. A native of Chicago, Alderman Bauman received his B.A., Privatizing struggling Milwaukee schools doesn’t pay off, report to be released April 24 says | Institute for Wisconsin's Future: